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Hoots : Is there a way to play vibrato on the piano? I know this is a silly question, but I couldn't help but wonder it. Is there a way to play vibrato on the piano? If not are there pianos out there with this feature? - freshhoot.com

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Is there a way to play vibrato on the piano?
I know this is a silly question, but I couldn't help but wonder it. Is there a way to play vibrato on the piano? If not are there pianos out there with this feature?


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Whilst you cannot do vibrato on a conventional grand or upright acoustic piano, recent developments do make vibrato possible on the Fluid Piano. Too many details to list here.


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Vibrato is impossible on the piano. The closest you could come is with the growling effect using the damper pedal, but this can be risky.

Vibrato is a standard technique on the clavichord, where it is called Bebung. This is possible due to the direct mechanical connection to the tangents which strike the strings. This possibility was a casualty of the development of the piano's escapement mechanism.


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In the era of extended techniques, nothing is truly impossible anymore. At the expense of a nice sound and precise pitch, you can change the pitch of the note you are playing by pressing a finger or a suitable object on the strings. Obviously, if you wiggle it around you get a sort of vibrato.

There are quite some modern pieces that require altering the pitch of strings like this, however I haven’t heard any that require vibrato.

Touching the strings with your fingers may cause them to rust.


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